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The Student Insider

Join the fast-track to career success

Date

Written by
Allie Fitzgibbon

When deciding whether or not to complete an MBA many people list time pressures and the financial burden as their main barriers. With the flexibility offered in the University of London’s Global MBA programme, both of those challenges are reduced. 

Postgraduate student in the office

The Global MBA has been designed to suit busy working professionals. You can study online, managing your time to fit your modules around your job and maintain your career momentum. You can choose to pay for the full course at the time you register or pay per module as you study.

One of the biggest benefits on offer, however, is the opportunity to use your existing qualifications to your advantage with our extensive ‘Recognition of Prior Learning’ RPL). If you have completed a professional qualification, the University of London may accept this in place of one (or more) modules so that you don’t need to take them as part of your degree. Some qualifications are recognised for as many as five modules – a significant proportion of the programme.

Dr Dimitrios Koufopoulos, Programme Director of the online Global MBA and Visiting Professor at the School of Law, Queen Mary University of London said:

“Our students benefit from our strong relationships with a number of professional bodies, ranging from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) to the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the Canadian Institute of Management (CIM). We have worked with these institutions to map our modules against their qualifications and students who have completed certain professional exams may be entitled to module exemption. That means they do not duplicate their learning, allowing them to complete the course faster and with less of a financial burden.

“We are constantly developing our relationships and looking to build new partnerships and this is something we are very proud of.”

Our students benefit from our strong relationships with a number of professional bodies, ranging from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) to the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the Canadian Institute of Management (CIM).

There is a huge range of qualifications for which the University of London will recognise your prior learning automatically. As long as you have passed the relevant exams in full within the last five years, your prior learning will be accredited for no additional fee.

Andrew Freud, Academic Services Manager at the University of London, said: “The breadth of qualifications included in the automatic recognition of prior learning is unique to the MBA and really reflects the number of specialisms on offer – from accountancy and finance to leadership.” 

If you hold other qualifications or module credits that you feel reflect similar learning outcomes to any modules of the Global MBA, you can also apply for this to be recognised and accredited as prior learning. You would pay a small fee for this service.

Andrew described the process: “Applications for discretionary Recognition of Prior Learning are considered on an individual basis by the programme director with assistance from our Admissions Office. Students may have a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration or may have completed some modules of another MBA programme but not finished the full course. In each instance we would consider the application based on the relevance of the syllabus to our modules.”

Gaining Chartered Manager status can give professionals access to a huge network of contacts and job opportunities and is a real step-up in their career.

The reciprocal nature of the relationship between the University of London and the professional bodies with which they work brings additional benefits to students, as Andrew explained.

“As well as recognising the prior learning in professional qualifications, students who successfully pass all Global MBA core modules and the Strategic Project become eligible for the award of the Chartered Management Institute’s Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership. With this, and at least three years’ relevant work experience, they can gain Chartered Manager status. This can give access to a huge network of contacts and job opportunities and is a real step-up in their career.”

Find out how you can skip ahead in your career and join the fast-track to a Global MBA.